Friday, August 01, 2014

Meanwhile, back in (Greater) Syria

The overwhelming focus of media attention on the latest Hamas-Israel war has driven the news from Syria and Iraq almost completely off the front pages of the newspapers and out of most TV news programs. But that doesn't mean that things have actually stopped happening there. For example, there are some scary developments in the parts of Syria controlled by the group that used to be called ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and [Greater] Syria) or ISIL (the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant), but which now calls itself simply the Islamic State.

For the moment, I will just pass on a roundup of some of this news by DavidP in Britain. As he says: "It
seems to me that, largely unnoticed, there is a tragedy unfolding for
the Syrian people and the broad alliance of groups that are fighting
the regime."

The group calling itself the Islamic State, previously known as the
Islamic State of Iraq and Levant [ISIL], has taken control of the rebel-held
portion of the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, buoyed by advances in
neighbouring Iraq has said. Rival rebel groups fighting against forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad either changed sides or fled from the strategic Euphrates valley city.

According to the [SOHR], which relies on a network of activists and
medics on the ground, fighters from the Islamic State group were now in
control of "95 to 98 percent of Deir Ezzor province". The
regime-controls half of Deir Ezzor city, a handful of villages as well
as the military airport.

The Observatory said that rivals of the Islamic State group,
including fighters of al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, lost
control after negotiations failed with the Islamic State group whose
leadership last month declared a "caliphate" straddling Syria and
Iraq. "Fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra and the [Islamist] rebel movement
Ahrar al-Sham withdrew from their bases in the city, while others
pledged their loyalty to [the] Islamic State," the Observatory said.

The rebel spokesman for Deir Ezzor confirmed the reports, blaming
international backers of the anti-Assad opposition for a lack of
support. Speaking to the AFP news agency via the Internet, Omar Abu Leyla
said: "The withdrawal is a result of the lack of any formal financial
backing [for the rebels] either from the [exiled] opposition or from the
international community." [..]

[ISIL's] gains in Iraq have tipped the balance in the struggle for power
in rebel-held areas of eastern and northern Syria where it has been
fighting armed groups allied with al-Nusra since January. The Islamic State group already controls the city of Raqqa upstream
from Deir Ezzor where it has enforced its hardline form of Islam, with
public executions, including crucifixions. Abu Leyla added: "Islamic State has no shortage of weapons,
ammunition or fighters, and the battle became totally asymmetrical,
especially after its advance on Mosul and its capture of heavy weapons." (see also NGO: Jihadists expel rivals from Syria’s Deir Ezzor.)

It
seems to me that, largely unnoticed, there is a tragedy unfolding for
the Syrian people and the broad alliance of groups that are fighting
the regime.

In an earlier report,
Omar Abu Leyla was described as a Free Syrian Army spokesman: "But in
four months of fighting (in Deir Ezzor), the rebels who were fighting
IS did not receive a single bullet" from countries that back the
revolt, he complained. (Islamic State 'seizes key Syria oil field', 3/7)

even before its Iraqi surge, ISIS was steadily gaining ground in Deir Ezzor, because that is where it has focused its main combat resources in Syria. ISIS pulled back months ago from the main fronts with the regime in the north, and it has focused on seizing control of Deir Ezzor rather than seeking to gain significant ground elsewhere in the country. In contrast, al-Nusra and leading rebel factions fight ISIS in Deir while continuing to bear the burden of battles with the regime in Aleppo and throughout the north.

[JW: Just to put the whole story in perspective, what all this means is that the less extremist, non-jihadist groups in that area had already been forced into an alliance with the Al-Nusra Front, an affiliate of Al Qaeda, in a last-ditch effort to resist ISIS, a group considered too extreme even by Al Qaeda. But even that coalition hasn't been strong enough.]

to train and equip what he described as "moderate" Syrian opposition
forces. The funds would help Syrians defend against forces aligned with
President Bashar al-Assad, the White House said. The aid would also
counter Islamist militants such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis), it added. [..] it is unclear whether and when Congress would act on his request. (26/6)

[JW: Two or three years ago, something along those lines might, possibly have been useful. Now, it's probably too little and too late, even if it happens ... and I'm not holding my breath.]

About Me

Jeff Weintraub is a social & political theorist, political sociologist, and democratic socialist who has been teaching most recently at the University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr College, and the New School for Social Research, He was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University in 2015-2016 and a Research Associate at the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, Bryn Mawr College.
(Also an Affiliated Professor with the University of Haifa in Israel & an opponent of academic blacklists.)